AUSTIN — One of Texas’ most legendary football players said he thinks the Longhorns need to make a coaching change.

Earl Campbell, the former UT Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer, told Houston television station KRIV that the Longhorns need to replace coach Mack Brown.

“Nobody likes to get fired or leave a job, but things happen,” Campbell, 58, told KRIV. “I’ll go on the record and say, ‘Yes, I think it’s time.’”

Brown, 62, won more games during his first 12 seasons at UT than the Longhorns had in any dozen-year stretch in their history. He also led UT to a national championship, four Bowl Championship Series games and seven Top-10 finishes during that time. But he’s only 24-19 in his last four seasons, and two blowout losses this year have increased speculation about his job security.

Campbell, who played at UT from 1974-’77 and has a statue in his honor at Royal-Memorial Stadium, has spent significant time in recent years working out at the Longhorns’ training facility. He said it wasn’t easy for him to say Brown needs to go.

“(It’s) very hard because coach Brown is a good man,” Campbell told KRIV. “I just hope he doesn’t stay.”

Campbell suggested to the TV station that former UT defensive back Jerry Gray, who’s now the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, would be a good replacement for Brown. He also said USC did the right thing by dismissing coach Lane Kiffin this weekend after its season started to slip away.

“‘I’d just say this, I take my hat off for USC for what they’ve done,” Campbell said. “They didn’t mess around with it. They just said, ‘Let’s do it now. I think at some point our university’s people are going to have make a decision.”